Thank You For The Venom (Frerard)

10 - Down and out is where you oughta stay

10 - Down and out is where you oughta stay

When Gerard woke up the next day it was to the sound of a phone ringing, but not his own.

"Hey" he heard Frank answer groggily from the bunk above him, so close and yet all Gerard wanted to do was climb up and be closer. "Yeah I know, I'm sorry I didn't call you back babe, I totally lost track of time at the party..."

Shit. He was talking to Luke.

"... yeah I think we crossed the state line last night, we're playing Chicago tonight, why do you ask? I swear I sent you the schedule... Wait, what? You are? But what about your work?!" His voice had definitely gone higher and he sounded surprised. This couldn't be good. "...oh, well, that's great. I guess I'll see you in an hour then... of course I'm excited to see you don't be crazy, I'm just a bit tired and hungover..."

Gerard bit back a groan of despair as he processed his words. Luke was coming, a last minute surprise perhaps, or maybe they'd planned it and Frank had forgotten. Either way, soon he would have to look into the eyes of the man whose boyfriend he'd kissed the night before and pretend like everything was okay.

Within the space of mere days he'd gone from having never experienced cheating firsthand to both being cheated on and now being the person that someone cheated with. What a fucking mess.

Part of him wanted to just stay in his bunk with the curtain pulled shut and never climb out again. He held back as he heard Frank drop down from his own bunk and head out into the living space. He had no idea where they stood now, but he did know that if Frank was planning on pretending like nothing had ever happened and was going to be all loved-up with Luke then he couldn't bear to be near it.

He waited another few minutes or so before he climbed down from his own bunk and headed to the kitchen to make himself a coffee, his hangover only a small one today. He didn't want Frank to realise he had heard his conversation, but the minute he entered the room the guitarist looked up at him with a nervous expression, biting his lip ever so slightly.

"Hey" Gerard faked a smile "anyone else want a coffee?"

Mikey and Ray were also in the room, but both shook their heads.

"You've got a nasty bruise coming up there" Mikey pointed to Gerard's cheek "does it hurt?"

"Nah, not too bad" Gerard shrugged "good job I have all that makeup in the back, I can cover it up for the show tonight."

"Going to art school saves the day once again" Frank teased, but his smile didn't quite meet his eyes.

"It comes in handy" he nodded, glancing at his reflection in the mirror and seeing the purple mark across his cheek where Bert had punched him. It could've been so much worse though, if it hadn't been for Frank.

"I think Brian wanted to talk to you about it today" said Ray "he's told Bert that he doesn't want him going anywhere near you for the rest of tour, and if he pulls anything like that again they're going to kick him off, so you should be safe."

"I am the one that threw the first punch" Gerard sighed "so I imagine I'm in trouble too."

"Me and Mikey told him everything that's been going on between you two, and he was definitely on your side, but he does have to keep it professional, so I imagine he'll just give you a warning not to pull that sort of shit again."

"Yeah" Mikey nodded "plus when we got out there all we could see was his mates all about to beat the shit out of you, and Bert not intervening, so you may have thrown the first punch but he's the one that was letting it escalate like that."